Report: Jagr has interest in joining Hurricanes

NHL.com

Report: Jagr has interest in joining HurricanesThe agent for Jaromir Jagr said Wednesday there are now more than three teams interested in the 41-year-old free-agent forward and confirmed the Carolina Hurricanes are one of them.

The agent for Jaromir Jagr said Wednesday there are now more than three teams interested in the 41-year-old free agent, and the forward has interest in the Carolina Hurricanes.

"A long story short, there are more than three teams," agent Petr Svoboda told CanesCountry.com. "Jaromir wants to be sure of the decision that he makes because he was in [Philadelphia], he was in Dallas, then in Boston. He wants to make sure he makes the right decision."

Svoboda said the Hurricanes are attractive to Jagr in part because former teammate Ron Francis is in their front office.

"What I can tell you is this: Carolina was on his list," Svoboda said. "What the reason is, he knows better than me. He's not 20. He knows where he wants to go and why. …

"There are a lot of reasons," Svoboda added. "Ron Francis is there, and when he looks at the roster and everything else, he feels that it's a very good team."

Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said Tuesday in a radio interview the team must move a player before it can add one. The GM mentioned an "upper-tier" free agent but did not name Jagr specifically.

"There's one guy that has said he will take less, and a one-year contract, to come to us because he likes our team and he'd like to play here," Rutherford told 99.9 The Fan on Tuesday. "And I've been continuing to work on ways to do that. We're going to have to move a player out before we're able to add a player. And at this point in time I haven't been able to do it, but the player is still waiting patiently."

Rutherford confirmed to CarolinaHurricanes.com on Thursday that Jagr was not the player he referenced.

Last Saturday, Svoboda told The Associated Press there were three teams interested in Jagr. The agent told TVA Sports there were discussions with Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin and "the interest is mutual, but the decision is now up to the Canadiens."

"I have not talked to anybody in Buffalo and the Sabres have not called," Svoboda told The Buffalo News by phone from California. "It's absolutely not true. Speculation."

Jagr had 14 goals and 26 points in 34 games for the Dallas Stars last season before they dealt him to the Boston Bruins near the NHL Trade Deadline. Jagr had nine points in 11 regular-season games for the Bruins and no goals and 10 assists in 22 Stanley Cup Playoff games. The Bruins opted to not re-sign him.

"He had a lot of fun there in Boston but it was an unfortunate finish for Jags," Svoboda told the Buffalo News. "It's so unpredictable. You don't know who will go all the way. He just wants to play hockey where it's fun."

The agent said there is no timetable for Jagr to join a team.

"It could be soon, it could be a month from now," Svoboda told Canes Country. "Right now, I'm just going to keep very quiet and we’ll see where it goes."

He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this.

— U.S. National Junior Team coach Ron Wilson on Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft